Caveat Emptor!

[Dralowid]

For a little fun I have posted a link to the camera below.

It is fairly self explanatory but I ask everyone who is interested in these things to post one comment about it only. Do not pass comment on things that have already been mentioned.

It will be fun to see the list grow...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Leica-I-m...680952?hash=item2124f0ca38:g:SzcAAOSwvihY9TL8

If it is your camera I apologise but suggest you double check the description...

 

[Rob-F]

I think the lens is a Russian copy.

 

[Ong]

That's some "fine" lens engraving they've got going there...

 

[nhchen]

Pretty nice conversion from a old fed camera I think.

 

[wolves3012]

Don't know enough about the Leica I to comment on the body, although it does look very FSU-like. The lens is an Industar 22 or 50, without any doubt whatsoever. Caveat emptor applies very much!

 

[rodt16s]

The £20K IIg link that showed on the same page was also interesting "Summarit" included..!!

 

[ForestCap]

The lens is a modified KOMZ Industar-50.

 

[ronnies]

It's been withdrawn due to an error in the listing. 🙂

Ronnie

 

[Erik van Straten]

It would be marvellous to collect those Russian fakes. This one does not look like the original, but is a very nice camera in itself.

Erik.

 

[Dralowid]

It would be marvellous to collect those Russian fakes. This one does not look like the original, but is a very nice camera in itself.

Erik.

Yes I thought that too. Not only could one actually take pictures with it (perish the thought!) but also many a happy hour could be spent marvelling at the work that went into it and identifying the source of some of the parts.

If they had instead made a copy of the original Fed copy of the Leica I that would have been something...

Michael

 

[Erik van Straten]

A few years ago WestLicht auctioned some Russian copies of the earliest Leica Is, with numbers under 800 or so and, of course, with Anastigmats. These were amazing works of art and fetched very high prices. However, it wasn't too difficult to identfy them as fakes. They were auctioned as such. These pieces are splendid collector items themselves.

Erik.

 

[Livesteamer]

A few years back I think there was a left handed Russian fake of (I think) a Leica 1. A symmetrical copy of a Leica. Being left handed I had brief thoughts of GAS but the price was quite high. Joe

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

It would be a very fun camera to shoot, but not at that price. So I made my own, and it shoots very well.

 

[Dralowid]

Did that hammer ever belong to Trini Lopez or is it a clever fake too?

Fake or not I'm sure it hits things very well...

 

[Rob-F]

It would be a very fun camera to shoot, but not at that price. So I made my own, and it shoots very well.

Would you explain what that copper thing is that has been added to the top? And I see a tube leading from there towards the back. Is this the part you made? What does it do? It looks like it could be a small still for making Russian vodka!

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

Ha!
The "copper thing" I made to cover the shutter speed workings. The "tube" is a leather thong attached to the hammer. The hammer is a metaphor for the way I work.

The Russians can work very well, as we see from the many so-called counterfeits they build from Zorki and Fed cameras. Why don't they make a straight-up Standard conversion without all the re-engraving and other markings, then they could sell them less expensively, and I think they would sell better too. I paid dearly for my own Leica Standard, and I would have bought a Zorki-Standard if they hadn't been such a tarted-up mish-mash.

 

[rfaspen]

If the camera in the OP was priced accordingly, I would have liked owning it. I agree that some of these fakes are absolute marvels of craftsmanship (craftswomanship). Not necessarily Russians who do this work, and not necessarily recent. The OP camera had some "issues" I can spot from distance (the rightmost upper plate screws are wonky, No?) but the paint was OK, and the hardware seemed nickel. That little housing that goes around the shutter speed dial is a touch feature to fake as well as in this camera. Just for that I like it. ...and did you notice they even re-engraved the period-correct aperture scale on the lens. I'm surprised they didn't use an I-50 instead of an I-22 so they could get the correct little "handle" on the aperture control ring. That big knurled circle is a big giveaway 🙂

Oops, I think I mentioned more than one "thing" about the camera. I'll stop here. Maybe someday I'll acquire one of these better-built fakes just for what they are.

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

I upgraded my Zorki Standard, lost the leather top and added an accessory shoe.
I DID NOT buy the SBOOI for this camera!

 

[Luddite Frank]

Davidnewtonguitars - I am impressed with your copper-work. 😎


Good job ! 😀

 

[davidnewtonguitars]

Thanks Frank.
I'm a guitar builder, but copper & solder is safe to work on a wood-worker's bench, not like iron & steel, which spreads oil too much.
Here is the latest version of my Zorki Standard with a suitable, less-expensive finder.